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Windows 8.1 to go RTM in “late August”

OEMs will be getting the free Windows update in less than two months.

During its Worldwide Partner Conference in a rainy and humid Houston today, Windows CFO Tami Reller announced that Windows 8.1, the free update to Windows 8, will be made available to OEMs by "late August," with devices reaching the market by the holiday season.

Windows 8 was released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012. Microsoft is promoting a faster release cadence across its entire range of products, and Windows 8.1 is arguably the first mass-market consumer product from the company that will benefit from this new release schedule.

Please help me out - RTM? All I could think was "read the ------- manual", but there's a letter missing. Is it "release to market"?

Release to manufacturing.

I'm wondering how long we are actually going to continue to have boxed software and the term RTM will be outdated.

Fairly certain that even when boxed software goes the way of the dodo, the term RTM will stick around, much like how every smartphone has a picture of a telephone handset despite none of us having seen such a mythical beast apart from possibly in a museum for the past, oh, 10-15 years?

I am just so sick of hearing about windows 8 and 8.1. I don't care about it. I don't want it on my computer. I don't what ever other features and enhancements they put it on it. I don't even care if they give me back my start menu. Just stop talking about about windows until you've got info for what's happening with 9.

You can always stop reading the threads with Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 in the title and posting in the comments threads.

Please help me out - RTM? All I could think was "read the ------- manual", but there's a letter missing. Is it "release to market"?

Release to manufacturing.

I'm wondering how long we are actually going to continue to have boxed software and the term RTM will be outdated.

Fairly certain that even when boxed software goes the way of the dodo, the term RTM will stick around, much like how every smartphone has a picture of a telephone handset despite none of us having seen such a mythical beast apart from possibly in a museum for the past, oh, 10-15 years?

Where I work, software only goes to "the cloud". We actually use RTO (Release To Operations) for releases.

Even so, some people will say "RTM" because they worked so damned long on boxed software Old habits die hard, I guess.

I am just so sick of hearing about windows 8 and 8.1. I don't care about it. I don't want it on my computer. I don't what ever other features and enhancements they put it on it. I don't even care if they give me back my start menu. Just stop talking about about windows until you've got info for what's happening with 9.

You can always stop reading the threads with Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 in the title and posting in the comments threads.

I have stopped reading the articles, I just wanted to let the people at ars know that I am done with it.

We don't care. Ars Technica is a technology news site, and Windows 8 and 8.1 are unambiguously on-topic.

I am just so sick of hearing about windows 8 and 8.1. I don't care about it. I don't want it on my computer. I don't what ever other features and enhancements they put it on it. I don't even care if they give me back my start menu. Just stop talking about about windows until you've got info for what's happening with 9.

You can always stop reading the threads with Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 in the title and posting in the comments threads.

I have stopped reading the articles, I just wanted to let the people at ars know that I am done with it.

We don't care. Ars Technica is a technology news site, and Windows 8 and 8.1 are unambiguously on-topic.

Please help me out - RTM? All I could think was "read the ------- manual", but there's a letter missing. Is it "release to market"?

Release to manufacturing.

I'm wondering how long we are actually going to continue to have boxed software and the term RTM will be outdated.

For quite a while the term RTW (which started as Release To Web, then morphed to Release To World) has also been used. You are right that boxed software was the original use for RTM. It is also used for "Released to hardware manufacturers to get their systems ready". But RTW is probably a better term for most software these days.

Despite my personal disdain for Windows 8, I still check in regarding updates to it in hopes they decide to unfuck their OS (for desktop use at least). Wishful thinking, yes. Don't see the point of QQ over a tech site posting tech news. If you don't care, like others said, don't click on the article.

After taking a stab at it (I waited for the Win8.1 preview to see if the new features helped any before trying to make a rational judgement on Win8 as a whole), I really think that Microsoft has lost its identity with Win8.whatever in general when it comes to desktop computing. I know they're trying to consolidate their user experience, but when it comes to business and professional use this new UI is a complete step backwards (imho). We've gone from a fairly useful true multitasking "windowed" environment where I can see all that I want/need to to an environment where the focus is one app at a time, or at best maybe two or three with a user experience which seems the mantra is "Let's see how much real estate we can waste on your monitor with large swaths of empty solid color that serves no purpose all the while confusing the hell out of you by forcing you to flip back and forth between two distinctly different user interfaces/UI paradigms as you go."

Looking at the comments so far in this story, I guess people don't agree with me, but whatever. I was just trying to register my opinion.

The comments section is intended for comments about the content of the story, which is probably why you're being moderated down to the land of fire and brimstone.

Is your opinion on the value of a story important? In aggregate with other readers, I'm confident that it is. It is almost certain that Ars collects statistics on how many people read which articles in order to decide which stories are a priority and which aren't. Individually, you opinion is as worthless as anyone elses because one reader doesn't make or break a site.

In a case like this, the best way to send Ars a message is to simply avoid reading the article. In more complex instances, you'd probably want to write to Ars staff directly. It is rarely appropriate to comment in the comment section on such matters.

I'm not sure what other response you were expecting. Do you seriously think that Ars should ignore important tech news just because you, personally, don't care about it?

Honestly, in my imagination I kinda have this image of a few department heads discussing the plans for upcoming stories. I can see them deciding to skip a story about 8.1 going RTM because people stop reading them since nobody cares.

Looking at the comments so far in this story, I guess people don't agree with me, but whatever. I was just trying to register my opinion.

Do you make similar posts in the comments thread for each article on Ars that you don't care about or have no interest in?

I'm left with the weird sensation of, "can wait!" It's weird because I have Windows 8, accept it for what it is, and it's a free update. On the other hand, it just doesn't seem to have much new to offer if you're working on the traditional desktop all of the time. (Windows 8 did have quite a few extras to offer for traditional desktop users, so it was a far better upgrade in my opinion.)

Please help me out - RTM? All I could think was "read the ------- manual", but there's a letter missing. Is it "release to market"?

Release to manufacturing.

I'm wondering how long we are actually going to continue to have boxed software and the term RTM will be outdated.

At least in Microsoft parlance, RTM is the difference between Microsoft shipping the product, and general availability. Typically, when RTM occurs, it is still awhile before you can walk into a store and find a device or PC with the most updated software available.

Please help me out - RTM? All I could think was "read the ------- manual", but there's a letter missing. Is it "release to market"?

Release to manufacturing.

I'm wondering how long we are actually going to continue to have boxed software and the term RTM will be outdated.

At least in Microsoft parlance, RTM is the difference between Microsoft shipping the product, and general availability. Typically, when RTM occurs, it is still awhile before you can walk into a store and find a device or PC with the most updated software available.

I assume that's because PC makers want to make new computers with 8.1 and then push those instead of updating already-made ones?

i love Windows 8 it's the best thing ever. Anyone who says otherwise is just a luddite. ...

Since I don't particularly like Win8, but I'm reasonably certain that I've seen worse before... I guess that means that I fall somewhere in the middle... a Luddite who is paid by Microsoft? Except I don't recall getting my paycheck, so something must be amiss in Microsoft's payroll department...

I am a little disturbed by how quickly this is going from its current release (the preview, launched june 26/27th) to an RTM nary 2 months later.

It has a LOT of the same regressions Windows 8 previews had over windows 7; handle leaking in audio drivers, network adapters from Intel, Marvell, Realtek and Atheros do not initialise properly when returning from sleep states, making a double reboot necessary (since the hybrid shutdown magic that lets it boot faster does not fix them and requires a second reboot), and worst of all is the WDDM 1.3 drivers that cause 3d applications to crash when they are restored from being minimized.

These are almost all driver-related bugs, but it worries me that it took device manufacturers close to a year to fix these when Windows 8 was in development, how can Microsoft expect them all to be on-board in less than 2 months? the fact that these are regressions to early Windows 8 development is worrying as well, I have no idea how loosely cobbled together the Windows 8 support was if it is broken in the exact same way by relatively minor kernel changes in Windows 8.1.

I want to point out that I am incredibly enthusiastic about technology in general, as most of us here on ars are. I expect there to be bugs, and that's par for the course for getting to test pre-release software. I genuinely love Windows 8, I just hope that Microsoft is not compromising on the technical superiority Windows 8 had over Windows 7 (in terms of under the hood technology) in order to undo some of their UI shenanigans due to user outcry.

I love that they are going to do yearly free updates now. It's like Android, except you actually get the update.

Well, whilst that's what they are currently planning on doing, it's not necessarily set in stone. This (Windows 8.1) release will be the first iteration on this; depending on how Windows 8.1 is perceived by businesses, and it's uptake success, it may be tweaked to an 18/24 month cadence instead.

In the end, Microsoft does have to listen to the people that buy it's software, and it's really up to them whether this succeeds. I may need to point out my previous post where I highlight driver issues, for the yearly server updates this is an even greater concern since stability is far more important in that space.

I love that they are going to do yearly free updates now. It's like Android, except you actually get the update.

If you're referring to Windows Blue: every article about Blue that I've read seems to suggest that the updates will be "free or cheap". Ergo, it sounds like they're trying to move to a market strategy more closely matching Apple's $20-$30 yearly OS X releases, rather than the iOS free releases.

In any case: regardless of whether you're talking about Windows or Mac OS X or iOS or Android, (or any other software product in existence, for that matter) there's never a guarantee that future updates will support older hardware, even if the current product does support that hardware. (I will agree that Android is one of the most cited offenders in this respect, however.)

i love Windows 8 it's the best thing ever. Anyone who says otherwise is just a luddite. ...

Since I don't particularly like Win8, but I'm reasonably certain that I've seen worse before... I guess that means that I fall somewhere in the middle... a Luddite who is paid by Microsoft? Except I don't recall getting my paycheck, so something must be amiss in Microsoft's payroll department...

Unless you are actually employed by MS, you'd want to check with Accounts Payable, as they would be the ones responsible for cutting a check to you.

Please help me out - RTM? All I could think was "read the ------- manual", but there's a letter missing. Is it "release to market"?

Release to manufacturing.

I'm wondering how long we are actually going to continue to have boxed software and the term RTM will be outdated.

At least in Microsoft parlance, RTM is the difference between Microsoft shipping the product, and general availability. Typically, when RTM occurs, it is still awhile before you can walk into a store and find a device or PC with the most updated software available.

I assume that's because PC makers want to make new computers with 8.1 and then push those instead of updating already-made ones?

This isn't the mobile industry. There's no ifs ands or buts. All Windows 8 and Windows RT machines are getting the 8.1 update and that's final.

RTM means the code is final and is given to OEMs to get their new hardware ready and update drivers for their current machines if they want.

Windows 8 always struck me as beta, especially in RT - far too many situations where it was unclear which "experience" was needed to do a particular piece of work or make a configuration change. I would argue that 8.1 suffers from some of the same schizophrenia (do I really need two flavors of IE on the same box?) but at least the configurations have been harmonized to the point that it feels consistent.

Unlike some others, I don't take it personally when Microsoft is trying to innovate - good on them. This release shows that they're willing to back that up with a development cycle that won't leave you in the lurch for too long, which is refreshing.